


So I Heard You Like Anime... (Armin x Anime Fan!Reader)

by lyrasprinkles



Category: Multi-Fandom, Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Anime Fan Reader, Armin is Haru, Armin is Italy, Armin is Stupid, F/M, Free: Iwatobi Swim Club, Hetalia, Otaku Reader, Reader-Insert
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-01-16
Updated: 2017-02-04
Packaged: 2018-09-17 22:01:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,545
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9348371
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lyrasprinkles/pseuds/lyrasprinkles
Summary: In which you keep watching different anime, and Armin, your hapless admirer, goes at extreme lengths to keep up with you.





	1. So I Heard You Like Free...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Armin is a hydrophilic swimmer.

“ _Free?_ ” Your best friend Hannah asked, her nose wrinkling in disgust.

  
“Free,” you repeated firmly, pausing behind Hannah for the lunch lady to plop a spoonful of disgusting brown slime on your tray.

  
“The gay swimming anime?” Hannah asked flatly.

  
“Hey! Free is _not_ gay!” You cried indignantly. “And even if it is, so what? Makoto and Haru’s love is pure and deep, just like the water they swim in!”

  
Your best friend, who was in the middle of picking up a juice box, stopped to stare at you. “Wow. It’s true what they say: Free _does_ convert sane people into trash.”

  
“You’re holding up the line, missy,” the lunch lady told her.

  
Hannah picked up her tray and walked away, with you following closely behind. “Seriously, Hannah, it wouldn’t kill you to watch it, you know. It’s a good show. It totally has a plot and stuff.”

  
“By plot, I assume you’re talking about half-naked boys desperately trying _not_ to make out with each other,” she replied, slipping into a seat next to her boyfriend Franz.

  
“Ugh! I give up!” You sighed dramatically, sliding into the seat across her. “You’re such a bitch, Hannah. In fact, I’m glad you’re not watching the show – you can’t appreciate art.”

  
“By art, I assume I assume you’re talking about –” Hannah began.

  
“Okay!” You said loudly, cutting her off. “Enough! I get it! You think Free is lame! Well, I’ll have you know, Haruka Nanase is the hottest anime character I’ve ever seen. Swimmers are hella sexy. Franz, back me up here.”

  
“Oh, definitely,” Franz nodded, agreeing with you. He caught Hannah’s eye and muttered, “Definitely _not_ , I mean.”

  
You sighed again, and turned away. You had binge-watched _Free: Iwatobi Swim Club_ last night, and were currently on a swimming high. Unfortunately for you, your best friend Hannah did not share the same taste in anime as you, and never hesitated to tear down the shows you loved with her sharp tongue.

  
Hannah was dating Franz, and the two of them were in the same class as you in Titan High. The three of you were best friends, and did everything together. However, you often felt like the third wheel, and sometimes wished you had a boyfriend like her, too.

  
“I mean,” you continued, poking a fork into the unappetizing brown slush on your tray. “If a hot swimmer guy like Haru asked me out, I’d totally say yes. Seriously, why can’t anime guys be real?”

  
Unbeknownst to you, Armin Arlert was in the seat right behind you. You didn’t know him very well – all you knew about him was that he was in your class and was really smart. You had spoken to him a couple of times, but not enough to consider him as a friend.

  
Another thing you didn’t know was that Armin had a crush on you. Nobody knew about this, not even Eren and Mikasa, Armin’s best friends, because he didn’t tell them. He liked you a lot – he thought you were cool and smart and he really wanted to go out with you. But the difference in your social circles kept him from making his move on you – after all, people like you didn’t interact much with nerds like him unless they needed help with homework. Not to mention he had zero experience with girls, and was therefore painfully shy around you. It would be a long time before he could actually ask you out.

  
However, Armin Arlert had recently come across some information that would definitely help him. He had been standing behind you in the cafeteria line (not coincidentally, of course. He wasn’t a stalker – just a guy who liked being around you as much as possible. Those were different things, right?) and had heard you talk about your love for anime, specifically _Free,_ which you had just finished watching. Then he had followed you to your table and chose the seat behind yours (again, he _wasn’t_ a stalker) and had heard you lament on anime guys not being real and hot swimmer guys not asking you out.

  
That was when a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad idea popped up into Armin’s mind.

  
He smirked to himself.

  
“What are you smirking about?” Mikasa asked suspiciously.

  
Armin blinked. He had been so lost in thought and too busy listening to your conversation that he had forgotten that he was currently eating lunch with Eren and Mikasa, both of whom had been watching him anxiously for the last five minutes.

  
“Yeah, you’ve been totally spaced out since you sat down,” Eren added. He frowned and set his fork down. “Something wrong? No one’s bullying you, right?”

  
“No, I’m fine,” Armin replied, shaking his head hastily. “I was just – well, I think I’m going to leave the Geography Club.”

  
“The Geography Club? But why?” Eren asked incredulously. “You love Geography! You’re totally all about the oceans and mountains and stuff!”

  
“Yes, well,” Armin said slowly. “I was actually thinking about taking up a sport. Like swimming.”

  
Both Eren and Mikasa burst out laughing.

  
“Hey!” Armin cried indignantly.

  
“What’s going on?” Sasha slipped into the seat beside Mikasa, and was helping herself to Mikasa's chicken nuggets.

  
“Armin – swimming –” Eren gasped between laughs.

  
Sasha, too, began laughing hysterically.

  
“Guys, come on, it isn’t funny!” Armin said helplessly. “I could totally swim, if I wanted to!”

  
This only caused Eren, Mikasa and Sasha to laugh louder.

  
“What’s so funny?” Jean demanded, setting his tray down beside Armin’s.

  
“Armin wants to swim,” Sasha replied, tears streaming out of her eyes.

  
“The fuck?” Jean began laughing too.

  
Armin turned crimson with embarrassment. He turned around, and caught your eye as you, Hannah and Franz turned to see what the ruckus was about. He quickly looked away, more embarrassed than he had ever been.

  
The group finally stopped laughing when they caught Mr Ackerman giving them the stink eye from across the room. “Seriously, Armin, forget about it,” Jean said, wiping the tears out of his eyes. “I mean, you and swimming is just – no.”

  
“Yeah,” Sasha added. “Can you even swim?”

  
“I probably could, if I tried,” Armin said defensively. “YouTube has plenty of videos –”

  
“Armin, don’t make me laugh again,” Eren said, his face scrunched up as he tried to control his laughter. “You can’t learn to swim from YouTube!”

  
“And you suck at sports,” Mikasa added. “You’re always the last to get picked, even after Daz. And that’s saying something.”

  
Armin pushed his chair back and stood up. He had had enough of this.

  
“I’m going to join the Swim Team right now,” he said, trying to sound determined. He didn’t particularly want to do this – the thought of being in the cold water wearing nothing but Speedos terrified him. But if there was a chance that it would impress you, he was willing to try.

  
He picked up his tray and walked away, ignoring the jeers of Sasha and Jean as they tried to stop him. He made his way straight to Michael, a senior who was on the Swim Team.

  
“Michael,” he said, trembling. “Are you accepting new members for the Swim Team?”

  
“Well, we’re currently looking for someone who can swim backstroke –” Michael started.

  
“I’ll take it!” Armin yelled enthusiastically.

  
“Uh, no offense, squirt, but we were hoping for someone a little taller than –”

  
“Please,” he begged. He clung on to Michael’s side, like a little kid who had been refused candy. “I’ll do anything! I’ll clean the pool! I’ll wash your trunks! I’ll even –”

  
“Suck his dick?” One of Michael’s friends finished helpfully.

  
"I'll do that, too!" Armin cried.

  
“Alright, calm down!” Michael pried Armin off his body. “Look, I can’t guarantee you a spot on the team, but I can let you try out. Why don’t you meet us by the pool after school and show us what you got?”

  
“Thank you!” Armin jumped on Michael and tried to hug him. “Thank you so much! You won’t regret this!”

* * *

 

However, Michael soon came to regret it.

  
Armin’s tryout went horribly. He didn’t have a pair of trunks, so he had to borrow a spare that was bright yellow and had a penguin on the butt. He was asked to swim the backstroke, which he knew nothing about. He was then asked if he could swim at all, which again, he didn’t know how to do. Finally, he was berated by each and every single member of the team on why he thought it was a good idea to try out for the Swim Team when he _didn’t know how to freaking swim._

  
Needless to say, Armin was very discouraged. But he wouldn’t give up. The thought of you sitting by the pool, cheering him on as he did another freestroke (or whatever it was called) lap around the pool propelled him on, and he cried, begged and pleaded to be on the team. He even threatened to provide a certain – uh – _service_ to the boys, as Michael’s friend had suggested in the cafeteria. This was the last straw. The Swim Team promptly accepted him as a member, and assigned him the post before he could actually go through with his offer.

* * *

 

That night, Armin stayed over at Eren and Mikasa’s. He spent the entire night binge-watching _Free_.

  
When Eren woke up the next morning, Armin wasn’t in bed. He found the bathroom door shut, and assumed that Armin was probably taking a shower in there. However, when he did not come out _an hour later_ , Eren began to get worried.

  
He knocked on the door. “Armin, everything okay in there?”

  
“Yes,” came a voice from the bathroom.

  
“Well, uh, if you’re done with the bathroom, maybe you could let someone else use it?” Eren asked. “Mikasa and I need to shower and get ready for school.”

  
“No,” Armin replied.

  
Eren exchanged glances with Mikasa, who had been listening to the whole exchange next to him. She nodded, and turned the doorknob.

  
“Armin, I’m coming in,” she announced. She entered the bathroom, but stopped when she saw Armin.

  
“What is it?” Eren said, rushing behind her. He saw Armin lying down in the bathtub, wearing nothing but his underwear.

  
“Armin? What are you doing?” Eren asked.

  
“I love water,” Armin replied monotonously.

  
“Yeah but, you’ve been hogging the bathroom for like an hour,” Eren replied. “Come on. I gotta take a shower.”

  
“No,” Armin shook his head, and sunk even lower. “I love being in the water.”

  
Eren sighed. He nodded at Mikasa, who quickly pulled Armin out of the tub and shook him dry like a rag.

  
“Hey! Wait! What are you doing?” Armin cried. “Let me go! I need to be in the water –”

  
Mikasa locked him in Eren’s room, cutting him off. “Get dressed. We’ll be leaving for school in fifteen minutes.”

* * *

 

The three of them got to school late that day. Eren and Mikasa were annoyed with Armin. Not only did he hog the bathroom in the morning, he also felt the need to jump into every water body he came across. He had to miss his first class, as he was forced to go to the nurse to dry himself and change his uniform.

  
You, on the other hand, hadn’t noticed that Armin wasn’t in class. You only noticed he was missing when he actually showed up – late – to the second class. It was Algebra with Mr Ackerman, who hated tardiness as much as he hated not cleaning. To make matters worse, Armin was drinking water throughout the class. While there was nothing wrong with that, per se, he had to be excused every ten minutes to go to the bathroom. He was making Mr Ackerman angry, and an angry Mr Ackerman was always trouble for the entire class.

  
During your third class, Science with Miss Hange, Armin decided to shake things up a bit. He was now splashing water over his head every five minutes or so and distracting the entire class. When questioned by the teacher, he said that he loved water and wanted to be “wet” at all times. This caused the entire class to erupt in laughter, and Miss Hange, being the oddball that she was, encouraged him to wet himself as much as possible.

  
In Home Ec. during the fourth period, Armin filled the biggest pot he could find with water, forced his butt into it and refused to move. It took the combined efforts of Reiner, Bertolt and Eren to get him out. He had to be carried away, kicking and screaming, to the nurse’s office.

  
And finally, during lunch, you arrived in the cafeteria to find the most bizarre scene taking place.

  
“FOR THE LAST TIME, NO!” Michael was screaming. Armin was cowering before him like a helpless puppy. “NOW LEAVE ME ALONE!”

  
“But I can’t swim backstroke, Michael!” Armin cried. “I only swim free!”

  
“Armin, you can’t swim, period!” Michael said, irritated. “You’re lucky you got on the team in the first place! Now get lost!” He pushed Armin away and walked out the cafeteria.

  
Armin caught you watching at him and quickly made his way back to his table.

  
His plan was not working out at all. Not only was he failing to make an impression as a hot sexy anime swimmer, the looks he was getting from you were ones of irritation rather than love. He buried his head in his hands. “Think, Armin, think!” He whispered to himself furiously. “What else would impress her?”

  
  _Makoto and Haru’s love is pure and deep, just like the water they swim in!_

  
“That’s it!” Armin cried, raising his head.

  
“What’s what?” Sasha asked, her mouth full of Armin’s lunch (Mackerel. He had woken up early to go to the fish market and buy mackerel. Then he went back to Eren’s house, cooked it, and then immersed himself in the bathtub).

  
With a determined look in his eyes, Armin leaned over to Eren. “Eren. Let’s fall in love.”

  
Eren, who had been eating a burger, choked. Mikasa slapped him on the back.

  
“Say what?” he asked.

  
“Let’s fall in love,” Armin repeated, looking into Eren’s eyes.

  
“What?” Eren replied, confused.

  
“ _What?_ ” Mikasa repeated, glaring at Armin.

  
“Our love will be pure and deep, just like the water we swim in!” Armin declared.

  
Eren put his burger down. “Okay, who gave Armin crack?”

  
“Have sex with me,” Armin suggested.

  
“Not me,” Mikasa said.

  
“Not me,” Sasha said.

  
“Not me,” Jean said.

  
“Jean!” Armin said suddenly, as though he just remembered that he was there. He leapt across the table to grab his collar. “Go to Australia!”

  
“And why would I do that?” Jean replied, raising his eyebrow.

  
“TO LEARN HOW TO SWIM!” Armin explained. "So that we can become rivals and have an epic bromance that lasts two seasons!"

  
Eren nodded at Mikasa. “Search his bag. We’re taking away his crack.”

  
While Mikasa intruded on his privacy, Armin fell back into deep thought. Nothing was working. He had failed to gain your attention, and had only succeeded at creeping his friends out. He sighed. With the way things were going, he would have to unleash his trump card. Soon, if he was to have any sort of chance with you.

  
He stood up and began to unbutton his shirt.

  
“What’s he doing now?” Jean asked incredulously.

  
“Is he going to strip? Sasha wondered.

  
As soon he was done unbuttoning his shirt, he took it off and started with the pants.

  
“Armin no!,” Eren cried.

  
“ARMIN YES,” Mikasa and Sasha screamed.

  
Armin took off his uniform, until he was left in only a pair of black swimming trunks with purple stripes on them.

  
“I am suddenly very, very afraid,” Jean declared.

  
Armin pushed his tray aside and climbed on the table.

  
“Remind me again why we’re not stopping this freak show from happening?” Eren murmured to Mikasa.

  
“Because we love him and want nothing more than to see him embarrass himself?” Mikasa replied. “Because this is entertaining as hell? Because he annoyed the shit out of us today?”

  
“You make a compelling argument,” Eren murmured back.

  
“Attention Titan High students!” Armin announced. “I just want to say that I...I...I...” He was supposed to declare his love for you to the entire student body, but the feeling of all eyes on him had him mute. “I ONLY SWIM FREE!”

  
Everyone stared at him. “Oh-kay?” someone said uncertainly.

  
He could feel the eyes of the entire student body of Titan High on him, judging him and mocking him silently. He searched the crowd and caught your eyes. You blinked at him in confusion, wondering, like Eren and the others, who gave Armin crack.

  
That one look was all it took to send him over the edge.

  
" _Make us free na splash! Kasaneta,_ " Armin sang, and clapped his hands twice. " _Hikari no kontorasuto abite!_ " He snapped his fingers to the beat.

  
You frowned. Why was Armin singing and dancing to the Free ending theme?

  
" _Feel so free na kyō tobikomu!_ " Armin continued, tapping his toes against the surface of the table. " _Ore-tachi no brand new blue, yeah!_ "  
  
From across the room, Levi motioned to Bertolt and Reiner, who closed in on Armin and carried him off, still singing and attempting to dance, to the nurse’s office for the third time that day. After a quick check up there, he would be taken to Trost Lunatic Asylum for an assessment.

* * *

Levi sighed and got back to the staff table, where he had been having lunch with Hange and Erwin.

  
“Well,” he said. “It looks like Armin just ruined every chance he had of getting together with [Name]. It won’t be easy asking her out from a mental institution, that’s for sure.”

  
“Poor boy,” Hange said sadly. “And he did it all for her.”

  
“Well, he was being stupid,” Erwin huffed. “Why did he have to be Haru in the first place? He would’ve done a much better job as Nagisa! I mean, look at him! He looks like his twin! He’s a total Nagisa!”

  
Levi and Hange turned to stare at Erwin.

  
“What?” Erwin said defensively.

  
"Nothing," Levi replied. He exchanged glances with Hange and looked away.

  
Erwin smiled. " _Omou yō ni sei! sei! sei! a-oh,_ " he hummed to himself. " _Jibunrashiku kick! kick! kick! a-oh..._ "


	2. So I Heard You Like Hetalia...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Armin is a bunch of racial stereotypes.

“And so, Germany promised Italy that he wouldn’t forget him just because he was friends with Russia. They pinky swore on it, even though neither of them had any idea what a pinky swear was. Germany vowed to protect Italy whenever he was in danger, and Italy agreed to return the favor, which is funny because everyone knows that Italy is useless. And then they both ate Germany’s sausages together.” You finished proudly.

There was a pin drop silence in the classroom.

You blinked in confusion, wondering why everyone was so quiet. All of your classmates were staring at you with their mouths open. Your History teacher, Mr Smith, scratched his head uncertainly.

“Er, thank you, [Name],” he said finally. “That was very – uh – entertaining. But when I asked you how the Pact of Steel was formed, I was referring to the _accurate_ version in your textbook, that is, the military and political alliance between the Kingdom of Italy and Nazi Germany. NOT Italy and Germany’s budding romance in _Hetalia_.”

The whole class erupted in laughter.

Your face burned, and you slowly sank into your seat. You had never been more embarrassed before. Okay, so maybe it was kind of your fault, since you had put off going over your History notes last night in favor of re-watching _Axis Powers Hetalia_ – because, let’s face it; it was _one and the same thing_. So naturally, when Mr Smith asked you to talk about the Pact of Steel, the first thing that came to your mind was the Hetalian version. If you had known that Mr Smith was going to embarrass you in class like that, you would have thought twice before giving out the answer.

You sulked for the rest of the class, ignoring Mr Smith when he spoke about the _real_ version of the Pact of Steel. You ignored the concerned looks that your best friends Hannah and Franz were giving you. You just wanted the ground to swallow you whole so that you could disappear from class and not have to face Mr Smith and anyone else again.

Your next class was Art, during which Mr Jinn had the class pair up and sketch each other. This was good, because you were in a really bad mood and were looking forward to blowing off some steam. Hannah generously offered to pair up with you instead of her boyfriend Franz, knowing how upset you were. The two of you sat opposite each other and worked on your sketches in silence.

“I’m kind of worried about her,” Franz whispered to Hannah. He was sitting beside her, while Samuel, Franz’s partner, was seated next to you. “She hasn’t said a word since Erwin corrected her.”

Hannah turned around to check where Mr Jinn was. “Any minute now...” she whispered.

“What?” Franz asked.

“Mr Jinn is going to leave the classroom for a smoke break soon, and as soon as he’s gone, she’s going to begin ranting,” Hannah explained. “Watch.”

As if on cue, Mr Jinn, satisfied that the class was behaving themselves, left the room. As soon as he was gone, you began.

“I can’t believe this!” you cried.

“Told you,” Hannah smiled at Franz.

“Just who does Erwin Smith think he is?” you said loudly. Several heads turned in your direction curiously.

“Our History teacher?” Franz said innocently.

“No!” you replied impatiently. “I mean, yes, but how could he make fun of me like that?”

Hannah sighed. “[Name], please...”

“And how dare he besmirch the sacred name of Hetalia?” you shrieked.

“Is she alright?” Samuel asked Franz and Hannah. “Did she forget to take her meds this morning?”

“Just because I answered his question in Hetalia terms doesn’t mean I’m wrong!” you argued. “How can he say that the textbook account is the accurate one? For all we know, Hitler could have totally invited Mussolini over for sausages when they signed the pact! They might have even had a thing going on!”

“Technically, they didn’t –” Franz started.

“Because if there’s one thing that Hetalia teaches us, it’s that all the countries are totally gay for each other!” The tip of your pencil broke as you scribbled over your paper angrily.

“Geez, [Name]. Calm. The fuck. DOWN.” Hannah growled in a warning tone.

You screamed in frustration as your pencil refused to draw. You had been so busy ranting about Erwin and Hetalia that you had neglected to pay any attention to your drawing. Your sketch of Hannah now looked like a female version of Cuba from Hetalia, with thicker eyebrows than England and a giant scribble mark across her nose. In anger, you tossed the pencil away, and crumpled the paper and threw it at Hannah’s feet.

The pencil flew across the room and hit Armin on the forehead, causing him to momentarily black out.

Unlike you, Armin hadn’t been able to pair up with his best friends, since both of them had decided to draw each other instead of him. All of his other friends had partners, too – Jean and Marco were together, and so were Sasha and Connie. Hence he had been forced to pair up with Annie, who couldn’t find a partner either.

Not that there was anything wrong with that. Annie was okay, but teaming up with her meant that they would have to complete the assignment in silence. Which Armin found extremely boring. Luckily, he was positioned at such an angle that he could ~~indulge in his stalker tendencies~~ observe you from where he was sitting. He found himself spending more time looking at your face instead of Annie’s, watching you rant angrily for reasons unknown to him. That’s when your pencil had hit him on the forehead.

“Are you alright?” Annie asked.

“Me? Oh yes, I’m fine,” he mumbled, rubbing the spot where the object had struck him. Ignoring Annie’s confused expression, he quickly picked up your pencil and slipped it into his pocket. It was totally not going on the mini shrine he had erected on his bedside table in your honor. Nope. Not at all.

“Fine,” Annie said, going back to work on her drawing. Armin, however, was more distracted than before. A small wound had formed on his face, thanks to your pencil, but he was more concerned about you. You seemed angry for some reason. You were ranting away to Hannah and Franz, and although he could hear your voice, he couldn’t quite catch the words due to the noise in the classroom. He had seen you tear up at least three different versions of your sketch by now, and he was very worried.

Was it because of what Mr Smith had said? He had to admit, your answer was funny, and the way you spoke about the countries like they were friends was really cute. But Mr Smith had called you out on your explanation. What was the word he used? Hetare? Italia?

“It’s Hetalia,” Annie said quietly, not looking up from her work.

Armin blinked in confusion.

“Excuse me?” he asked. “Did you just say something, Annie?”

“Axis Powers Hetalia,” Annie repeated, her eyes still on her sketch. “That’s the name of the show Mr Smith was referring to. It’s where [Name] got her sausage answer from.”

Armin stared at Annie, trying to process what she had just said. Was this another anime?

“Yes, it’s an anime,” Annie answered, somehow creepily reading his mind again. “It’s about what history would be like if the countries were personified and acted like their respective stereotypes.”

“Okay, how are you doing that?” Armin asked.

“She’s annoyed because Mr Smith called her version of history wrong,” Annie continued, ignoring his question. “According to her, Hetalia _is_ history. Or at least how it should have been.”

“Hmm,” Armin said absently, his eyes traveling back to you. You were now summarizing the events of World War I, according to Hetalia. He saw you grab Samuel’s pencil from his hand and dramatically poke your schoolbag with it, as though expecting the tomato box fairy to emerge from the bag.

The more he watched you, the more he realized how much he liked you.

He so badly wanted to get your attention. He wanted you to look up from your act and smile at him. He wanted to feel your eyes on him, just like his were on you.

More bad ideas began to creep into his mind.

 _NO!_ he thought to himself. _I can’t do that again! I already embarrassed myself terribly last time! I’m lucky that the Trost Asylum released me in the first place! I won’t do it!_

_Then again, she DID look at me last time. Especially when I was singing and dancing on the table..._

_Maybe this time it would work?_

“It won’t work,” Annie said, interrupting his thoughts.

“Okay, what the hell?” Armin cried. “How are you reading my mind?”

“You’re only going to embarrass yourself again,” Annie said tonelessly, her eyes fixed on her work. “If you want her to like you, you should just tell her how you feel.”

Armin sighed. His shoulders slumped, and he turned his attention back to his sketch. “I can’t do that,” he muttered, shading the sides of the face he was drawing. “She barely knows who I am. She’s not going to go out with me.”

“You don’t know that,” Annie pointed out.

“It doesn’t matter,” he replied. “I’m... not the type of person she wants to date. The people she hangs around – Hannah, Franz, Samuel – they’re all into anime and manga and video games. I...I don’t really have much in common with her.”

“Last I checked, having stuff in common isn’t a prerequisite for dating,” Annie replied.

Armin was quiet. Annie didn’t understand. She had no idea what it was like, watching from the sidelines as the person you liked barely acknowledged your existence. She didn’t know how it felt to watch that person smile at everybody except you.

“Anime...is something that’s really important to her,” he said stubbornly. “And I want to be a person she can share that with. I want to be her type. If she wants a hot swimmer boyfriend, I want to be a hot swimmer boy. If she wants a ninja or a pirate or a soul reaper or an alien...I’ll be all those things. And if she’s into countries that are people...” he took a deep breath, “I’m going to be a whole country for her.”

“Are you now,” Annie said dryly.

“Yes,” he whispered firmly. Putting down his paper and pencil, he pulled his phone out of his pocket and Googled. There were fifty-two episodes in the first part, each one of them five minutes long. Yes. He could do this. He could pull this off.

Mr Jinn appeared, and Armin quickly slipped his phone back into his pocket, smiling to himself. This was going to work. Once you found out how big of a Hetalia fan he was, you would be bending over backwards to hang out with him. He wasn’t going to screw it up this time.

“You screwed it up already,” Annie said.

Armin’s mouth fell open. “Are you _psychic?_ ” he yelped.

“I was talking about your drawing,” Annie said, finally looking up from her work. She pointed to the sketch he had set down on the side. “It’s pretty good, but you’ll probably fail if you turn it in.”

Armin frowned and picked up his sketch. Annie was right. His drawing of her was beautiful and lifelike, except that it _wasn’t_ her – it was you. He had been so focused on you throughout the class that he had drawn you instead of Annie.

Armin facepalmed. He carefully placed the sketch into his bag for ~~his shrine~~ research purposes, and got to work on a new one.

* * *

As soon as he got off work, Armin ran home, bolted into his room and slammed the door shut. He flopped on his bed and began playing the first episode of _Hetalia_ on his phone.

Since he didn’t want a repeat of his “swimming anime” incident, Armin texted Eren and Mikasa the next morning, asking them to go on without him. He had _very special_ plans for today.

You sat by yourself in class, innocently doodling in your notebook. It was Homeroom, and Mr Shadis was taking roll as usual. You knew better than to talk in his class, so you just sat in silence.

Although you didn’t notice it yet, Armin was missing again. He always sat in the front of the class, and his empty seat stuck out like a sore thumb. Shadis noticed it, and frowned. It wasn’t like Armin to be late or skip class like this; something had certainly changed with him. He was worried about him. Armin was his star pupil, and he couldn’t afford to have him slacking off.

In the middle of roll call, Armin appeared at the doorway, panting.

“Arlert!” Shadis said angrily. “Where the hell have you been? Is this –” He stopped when he saw the change in Armin’s appearance.

Although he was dressed in the school uniform, Armin had made a few adjustments to it. For one, his blond hair was slicked back, like he had just time-traveled from the Sixties. He had attached very thick fake eyebrows to his face, so that he looked like he was cosplaying Erwin Smith. His eyes were closed, making them wonder how he got to the classroom in the first place. And for some reason he had a long, weird curl sticking out of the side of his head.

“What the hell is wrong with you?” Shadis screamed. “You’re late and you look like joke. Get that crap off your head before you enter the class!”

“But sir...” Armin whined pitifully.

“No buts! You should know that as per the school rules no form of hair product is permitted!” Shadis roared. Then, in a quieter voice he said, “I expected better of you, Armin.”

Armin hung his head in shame.

Shadis sighed. “Go get that stuff out of your hair,” he said, less harshly. “And get back here immediately. I won’t punish you this time.”

Armin nodded gratefully. Then, in a hesitant voice, he said, “Sir, I know you said no hair product, but...can I at least keep the eyebrows?”

“GET OUT!” Shadis screamed.

* * *

Despite reverting back to his original appearance, Armin’s weird behavior continued to persist throughout the day. During English, he pissed off Miss Ral when he insisted that adding “Veh” after every sentence was a perfectly normal way of reading out his answers. During Biology, he got into a debate with Miss Hange and pissed off the entire class when he insisted that the only thing worth studying was the life cycle of the tomato plant. However, things took a turn for the worse during Home Ec. Again.

“And that’s how you make a simple beef stew,” Mr Zacharias finished, writing the last line of the recipe on the whiteboard. He placed the cap back on his marker and turned to the class. “Well, you know the drill. Team up in groups of three and complete the dish. Bring it to me by the end of the class for grading.”

You turned to Hannah and high-fived her. You both were thinking the same thing: this was going to be a piece of cake. And for good reason, too. Franz was a savant at cooking, and part of the reason you had such high grades in this class was because of him. Franz looked at both of you and shook his head.

“I guess I’m going to be doing all the work this time too, right?” he said.

“Yep,” Hannah said.

“’Course not,” you replied, patting him on the shoulder. “We’re totally going to help. Here, give me those carrots.”

The three of you immediately got to work, all focused on your individual tasks. Around you, everyone seemed to be busy with their own dishes. All was well for a few minutes until a loud scream interrupted your work.

You turned around to find Eren and Mikasa staring at their pot of stew, a horrified expression on their faces. Beside them, Armin was rubbing the back of his head sheepishly.

“Alright, what’s going on?” Mr Zacharias said, walking towards the group. “Yeager, what was that? Why were you screaming like a baby pig?”

“THERE ARE WORMS IN THE STEW, SIR!” Eren cried, tugging on Mr Zacharias’s sleeve. “OUR DISH IS RUINED! _RUINED_!”

“Huh?” The teacher sniffed at the pot lightly. He then stirred the dish with a spatula and picked up one of the “worms” in it. “It’s riccioli,” he said finally. “What’s it doing here?”

Mr Zacharias turned to Mikasa and Armin. “Did either of you put this in? Ackerman?”

Mikasa shook her head.

“Arlert?” he asked.

“I DID add it in, Mr Zacharias,” Armin said. “Although in my defense –”

“Why?” Mr Zacharias asked, shaking his head like he couldn’t believe it. “Why would you add pasta to the stew?” He pointed at the whiteboard. “Do you see ‘pasta’ anywhere in the recipe?”

“No, but –”

“Then _why?_ ”                                  

“Because...” Armin said innocently, looking up at the teacher with his big blue eyes. “Because...PASTA~!”

“Pasta?” Mr Zacharias repeated.

“PASTA~ ” Armin sang. With a dramatic flourish of his arms he said, “ _IMMENSO_ _amore... per la pasta!_ ”

Eren and Mikasa groaned loudly. “Not again!” Eren said.

Hannah poked you in the stomach. “Because one trip to the asylum wasn’t enough...” she whispered in your ear.

You nodded fearfully.

“Trust me,” Armin said, with a confident smile at Eren and Mikasa. “This dish is going to be a lot better now that it has PASTA~!”

Everyone blinked at him.

“ _Ve?_ ” he added.

Mr Zacharias shook his head again. Without another word, he pulled out his clipboard and scribbled something on it. Tearing the page away, he slapped it on the trio’s desk.

“You fail,” he said, pointing at the big red zero on the top of the page. He walked back to the front of the room.

There was a short silence, before Eren and Mikasa pounced on Armin to murder him.

* * *

“My face hurts,” Armin said sadly, nursing his left cheek. “My back hurts. My butt hurts. _Everything hurts._ ”

“You deserve it,” Mikasa said, kicking him in the shin so that it hurt more. “Thank goodness Mr Zacharias gave us another shot.”

“Sorry,” he muttered, looking away. Sasha chose that moment to slip into the seat next to him. Before she could open her mouth, Armin said, “Do NOT ask me about pasta. Please.”

“Alright, Crabby Pants,” Sasha replied, rolling her eyes at him. “So, what did everyone get for lunch today?”

“Burger,” said Eren, with his mouth full.

“Same,” said Mikasa.

Sasha looked at Armin expectantly. “I, uh, didn’t get anything,” he said. This was a lie. The truth was, he had a lunch box full of spaghetti at the bottom of his bag, but he was too afraid of Eren and Mikasa to eat it in front of them.

Her eyes widened. “Oh. That sucks.” She pushed her own lunch box towards him. “Well, you want some of mine?”

Armin poked the dish with his fork. It looked similar to lasagna, and he was more than willing to try it. He shoved a big bite into his mouth. “This is really good,” he said, in between bites. “Is this lasagna?”

“No, it’s shepherd’s pie,” Sasha said proudly. “It’s an English dish that –”

“ _POOF!_ ” Armin spit the food out, and it landed directly on Eren’s face.

Eren’s face began to turn purple. “Armin,” he said slowly, while Mikasa wiped the food off his face. “You’re asking for another ass-whopping, aren’t you?”

“I’m sorry, Eren!” Armin said, shielding his face with his hands. “But it’s Sasha’s fault! She fed me English food! Horrible, horrible English food!* Sasha! Why are you punishing me like this?”

“But,” Sasha was surprised. “You just said that it was really good...”

“No I didn’t!” Armin complained. “English food is the worst! Everyone knows that!” He pushed the lunch box away and crossed his arms angrily.

“Whatever,” Sasha shrugged, digging into her food. “Suit yourself.”

Armin sat for in silence for a while. Finally, when he could not ignore his growling stomach any longer, he said, “Hey, Eren?”

“What now?” Eren said wearily.

“Give me some glögg,” he said.

“I don’t know what that is,” Eren replied.

“Hey Mikasa. Mikasa,” Armin said again.

“ _What?_ ” Mikasa said, irritated. Both Eren and Mikasa were annoyed with him again.

“I can’t forget the taste of the meatballs I ate before!” Armin whispered.

Eren and Mikasa exchanged glances. They nodded at each other, before quickly picking up their things and walking away.

“Hey, where are you going?” Armin cried.

“Yeah!” Sasha called after them. “Guys! Come back! You can’t leave me alone with him! Guys!”

She watched as Eren and Mikasa walked out of the room, ignoring them. “Well, she said,” slumping back into her chair. “Guess it’s just us now.”

She turned to face Armin, who was staring at her with his mouth open like he’d just seen a ghost.

“Armin?” she whispered, waving her hand in front of his face. “Helloooo, Armin? You okay?”

“Sasha,” he whispered, raising a shaking finger to point at her. “Don’t move. There’s a flying mint bunny on your shoulder.”

Sasha blinked at him for a moment, before gathering her things to chase after Eren and Mikasa. “Guys! Wait up!”

* * *

Armin walked out of the cafeteria alone. He was having the worst day ever. Well, it wasn’t as bad as the last time, when his day ended with him being carted off to the asylum, but it was close enough. You had not even looked at him all day, save for when he entered the class late and made a fool of himself during Home Ec. He was sure that your impression of him must be horrible by now.

He was so sure this plan was going to work. He was so sure that things were going to be different this time. But no. He had screwed it up. He had ruined things, just like Annie predicted he would.

“Told you so,” said a voice next to him.

“Gah!” He jumped in fright, then sighed when he saw who it was. “Annie. It’s just you. When did you get here?”

“I’ve been here the whole time,” she said, raising an eyebrow at him. “You’ve been standing there for the last thirty seconds talking to yourself.”

“Oh,” he said. He hated to admit it, but Annie was right. He was never going to get you to like him now. He might as well just give up.

He wanted to cry. Why couldn’t you see how much he liked Hetalia? How much he was willing to do for you?

“If you want her to know how much you like Hetalia,” Annie said, “you have to tell her. She’s not going to see it otherwise.”

“Stop doing that!” he cried. “Stop reading my mind!”

“Or, if you really want to impress her with Hetalia,” Annie continued. “Tell her you like her. In Hetalia terms.”

Armin looked confused. “You mean I should ask her to become one with me?”

“No,” Annie said impatiently. “That’s not what I meant. You know, even though you haven’t been behaving like it, I know you’re a smart guy. I’m sure you’ll think of something.”

Armin didn’t say anything. An idea was beginning to form in his mind.

“I think you get what I’m saying,” Annie said, satisfied. “I’ll leave you alone, then. See you around.”

She walked away. Armin stared at her for a moment, then quickly rushed to the janitor’s closet.

* * *

“So, we were thinking of getting some ice-cream on our way home,” Hannah was saying. “You know. To celebrate us getting such a good score in Home Ec. You’re coming right?”

You shook your head. “Can’t,” you said, as you stopped outside the Art Room. “I lost my favorite pencil yesterday, and I wanted to look for it before going home. You guys go on without me. I’ll text you when I get home.”

“Cool,” Hannah said, and she and Franz walked away. You entered the room and dropped your backpack on a stoOl. Time to look for that stupid pencil.

But no matter how much you searched, you couldn’t find it. You found plenty of other pencils, but not yours. _Oh well,_ you shrugged, picking up your bag to leave the room. _Looks like it’s not here. I guess I’ll just have to do without it._

However, when you shut the door, you were surprised to find someone waiting for you outside.

Armin Arlert stepped out of the shadows, his hands behind his back.

“Hey,” you said uncertainly, wondering what he was doing there.

He whispered something inaudibly.

“I’m sorry?” you asked.

“H-h-hi,” he said, a little louder this time. “I said hi.”

“Oh,” you smiled at him.

Armin took a deep breath, before giving you the object he had been hiding.

“Huh?” you said, as you took it from him. "What's this?"

“I-I-I want you t-to have this,” he stammered.

“A deck brush?” you said, confused. You studied the brush in your hand. “But why would you give me this?”

Armin opened his mouth to speak, but no words would come out. Realization dawned on your face when you realized why he gave it to you.

"Oh my Goddesses," you whispered.

He looked at you expectantly. This was it. This was the moment he'd be waiting for. You finally knew. His palms begin to sweat rapidly, awaiting your answer.

“Oh Sina,” you whispered. “I know why you gave me this. I know what you’re trying to say.”

 _Because I love you,_ he thought to himself.  _Wait. Is that it? Do I love her? Of course. Of course I do. No guy comes to school with fake eyebrows trying to impress a girl he "likes". Of course I love her._

“You do?” said Armin, looking relieved. He was practically hyperventilating by now.

_Now, all she has to do is say yes, and I can die happy._

“Yes,” you whispered. “You wanted to tell me that...that..."

He nodded at you, urging you to go on.  _That I love you._

"That I have cleaning duty today!” you finished.

“Yes!” Armin cried. Then, after a pause he said, “Wait, what?”

“I can’t believe I forgot!” you wailed, pulling out your phone to check the time. “Shadis is going to be so mad at me!”

“But I...” Armin whispered.

“I gotta go now,” you said, swinging your bag over your shoulder and arming yourself with the deck brush. “Thanks, Armin!”

Armin watched you race down the corridor, his heart thumping loudly in his chest.

“She knows my name...” he whispered, his eyes on your retreating figure. “She actually knows my name...”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Apparently it's a thing to hate English food in Hetalia. Hope it doesn't come across as offensive.
> 
> Thank you to everyone who read, gave kudos and commented! Your support means a lot!


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